MORE '2012-REVIEWS' POSTS
Liar & Spy By Rebecca Stead $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-385-73743-2 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Rebecca Stead is the M. Night Shyamalan of children’s literature, and I mean that in a good Sixth Sense way, not a lame The Happening one. It’s funny, but when I try to compare her other authors I find myself tongue-tied. […]
Cat Tale By Michael Hall Greenwillow (an imprint of Harper Collins) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-191516-1 Ages 6-10 On shelves August 28th When we are old and gray and the stars gleam a little less brightly in the wide firmament above our heads, I have no doubt that there will STILL be children’s librarians out there debating […]
Wisdom the Midway Albatross: Surviving the Japanese Tsunami and Other Disasters for Over 60 Years By Darcy Pattison Illustrated by Kitty Harvill Mims House $11.99 ISBN: 978-0-9798621-7-5 Ages 4-8 On shelves now If I had a better knowledge of my nonfiction children’s history then I might be able to tell you the exact moment that […]
Robin Hood By David Calcutt Illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith Barefoot Books $12.99 ISBN 978-1-84686-799-6 Ages 6 and up On shelves October 1st Robin Hood has, for years now, been the bane of my existence. And yes, I’m well aware that this statement makes me sound like nothing so much as the Sheriff of Nottingham. That […]
The Swing By Robert Louis Stevenson Illustrated By Julie Morstad Simply Read Books $8.95 ISBN: 978-1897476482 Ages 0-3 On shelves October 20th There comes a moment in a new parent’s life when they realize that they have become their own parents. It’s different for everyone. For some folks it won’t happen until they’re berating their […]
Step Gently Out By Helen Frost Photographs by Rick Lieder Candlewick Press $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-5601-0 Ages 3-8 On shelves now I have lots of little soapboxes scattered around my home that I like to pounce on in idle moments. Big soapboxes. Little soapboxes. Anyone who knows me is forced to hear me expound from one […]
Freaky Fast Frankie Joe By Lutricia Clifton Holiday House $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-8234-2367-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Realistic fiction for kids has more baggage than other fictional genres for that age group. Fantasies and comedies and science fiction get to rely on the extraordinary to weave their tales. Historical fiction, meanwhile, has the nice veil […]
Up! Tall! And High! (but not necessarily in that order.) By Ethan Long G. P. Putnam’s Sons (an division of Penguin) $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-399-25611-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves now There was a running gag going around earlier this year that either Dan Santat was the Matthew Cordell of 2012 or Matthew Cordell was the Dan […]
The Giant and How He Humbugged America By Jim Murphy Scholastic $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-439-69184-0 Ages 10 and up On shelves October 1st What are we to make of the proliferation of true-life hoax books for children filling our library and bookstore shelves this year? Whether it’s the clever ruse of The Fairy Ring scandal or […]
Twelve Kinds of Ice By Ellen Bryan Obed Illustrated by Barbara McClintock Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-618-89129-0 Ages 6-10 On shelves November 6th Every year the children’s librarians of the New York Public Library system come together and create a list of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. The list, now entering its 101st […]